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How Grunge Took Over The World

Posted on 16th August 2016

PHOTO CREDIT - Dazeddigital

When we think of grunge, it's hard not to picture anything
other than flannel shirts and ripped denim or silk slips and near
mutilated tights, paired with dark rimmed eyes and a slash of red
lippy. Essentially, it is a rain-washed, tattered look that was
once the driving cultural force for a generation of disenfranchised
teenagers. It doesn't get much more grunge than Kurt Cobain and
Courtney Love, as the latter explains, 'I found my inner bitch and
ran with her'. At Rokit, we are taking a look at the history of
grunge and how to channel your inner bitch à la Courtney.

Music

As the story goes, grunge was born on the rain-slicked streets
of Seattle, Washington, on America's Northwest coast. Unlike other,
often more violent music scenes in major US cities, grunge was
characterised by the blurring of boundaries. Drawing on the
aesthetic of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and, of course,
Nirvana, heavy metal and punk coalesced into what would become
grunge.

Pioneers of the early grunge
scene included the band Green River, which featured Jeff Ament,
Stone Gossard and Mark Arm. The members later splintered off to
form iconic bands Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney; members
of grunge's second wave. With The Melvins, the basic grunge sound
was completed: grinding, savage, fuzzed out guitars that owe a debt
to corporate rock of the
70s with lyrics speaking of disillusionment, loneliness and
despair.

Aesthetic

As with most music scenes that erupt into something more,
clothing and image is inherently tied up with the sounds. Grunge
was no different. If punk
rock had a dogmatic stance of anti-fashion, then grunge clothing
was the movement of no fashion.

Generation X was the children of hippies, raised on a diet of
punk. They took the lackadaisical casualness of the West Coast and
fused it with their own punk-influenced ideas of what sartorial
elegance (or inelegance) could be.

Films

Aside from the wealth of icons behind a microphone or electric
guitar, the grunge image seeped into cinematography. Nineties cult
classics oozed grunge aesthetics, from the cast of The Craft and
Empire Records to Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting and Natalie
Portman in The Professional: Leon.

Of course, outside of the big screen, actors and actresses
repped the grunge trend off screen, with favourites including Drew
Barrymore (Poison Ivy anyone?) and Winona Ryder; with Johnny Depp
as your beau, it's hard not to see the direct influence of rock on
the angelic face of a grunge convert.

Commercialisation

At some point in your life, it's inevitable that you heard the
four-chord intro to Smells Like Teen Spirit. 'Course you have! It's
not just a grunge classic but one of the most important songs ever
recorded. However, for the truly grunge faithful, it signed the
death note for their scene.

Grunge had grown. Nirvana's 'Nevermind' transported the scene
from the tiny basements and cellars and rather propelled them onto
the world stage; with this came everything the grunge scene stood
against. Corporate sponsorship began to get its greedy claws into a
scene that thrived around individuality.

PHOTO CREDIT - Thestrut

Designers

Big name designers manhandled and moulded something spontaneous,
categorically effortless and without design into
collections. Marc Jacobs
attempted to turn grunge into some sort of high-fashion trend with
his 1993 collection, and Calvin Klein,
Armani and
Dolce
& Gabbana followed suit. This turned out to be a flop. The
original grungers never wanted this in the first place, nor could
they afford clothing from labels. It was just another classic story
of a sub-culture turned mainstream and the corporate world trying
to milk it for all its worth.

This sense of repackaging and reselling of their scene left many
of the grunge faithful even more disenfranchised than before
(which, all things considered is pretty impressive) and grunge
looked destined to implode.

When did it really end? It's hard to say. Kurt Cobain's tragic
suicide is definitely a watershed moment for grunge. After all, can
a scene really continue without one of its leading lights? Or did
it never end? Bands still rock out with distorted, wailing guitars
and grunge clothing is as fashionable as it's ever been!

So, to celebrate everything grunge stands for, why not grab some
authentic vintage denim, strap on your combat boots and head down
to Rokit to deck yourself out in a thoroughly grunge way? Shop
online or in store today!